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‘Sarahah’ Warning for Parents

As you will be aware there are a number of anonymous messaging and feedback apps. Within the last month, one such app has reached the top rankings within the app store as the most downloaded app. ‘Sarahah’ (Arabic for ‘candor’, ‘openness’ or ‘honesty’) has become popular with US teenagers and has been gaining popularity with users in the UK.

What is Sarahah?Sarahah originally started out as a website intended for employees to give anonymous feedback to their employers. According to the app’s website – ‘Sarahah helps you in discovering your strengths and areas for improvement by receiving honest feedback from your employees and your friends in a private manner’.

How it works?Once the Sarahah app has been downloaded, users must create an account on the app. The user will create their name, ie name.sarahah.com. They can then search for other Sarahah users on the app and send anonymous text based messages. The main difference with this app compared to others is that users can only send messages – they cannot respond to messages received.

The app does offer some limited privacy features which allow users control over the following 2 options:

appear in search

receive messages from non–registered users

As with other anonymous apps, there is always the potential for apps of this nature to be misused in relation to bullying, harassment or abuse. Teenagers can also use the Snapchat ‘Paperclip’ feature to share links to their Sarahah profile, encouraging others to send them anonymous feedback.

Cyberbullying, unfortunately, is not a new phenomenon and it definitely did not start with Sarahah but the anonymous nature of the app does lend itself to nasty and hurtful comments. I would therefore advise that you speak to your child about this app and ensure their safety online.

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Snapchat "Snap Map" Warning

Snapchat have introduced a new feature called Snap Map. This feature shows publicly posted images on a searchable map and allows users to see exactly where their ‘friends’ are in real time. The map is so accurate it can determine the house and street where people live.

Do you know all your ‘friends’ on Snapchat?

Would you like all your ‘friends’ to know where you are or where you live?

How to switch off Snap Map location sharing:

When in photo-taking mode, pinch the screen to open Snap Map

Touch the settings cog in the top right corner of the screen

Tap "Ghost Mode" to switch off location sharing

Photos and videos posted to Snapchat's public 'Our Story' will still be discoverable on the map.

Reminder to parents that to comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the minimum age for Snapchat use is 13.

Live.Me App - Information from Merseyside Police

Please see below information from Merseyside Police in regards to the Live.Me app. Also, NSPCC and O2 have teamed up to produce a guide to help parents explore and understand online life as children known it. The guide can be accessed via www.net-aware.org.uk

Live.Me:

"Live.Me is the fastest-growing social media streaming application available at the moment and has approximately 20 million users.

It allows the user to live-stream videos of themselves and also allows users to watch other streamed videos.

The app has limited security features and it is possible for users to potentially identify the location where a video was recorded.

It is possible for any video to be recorded and shared without the permission or knowledge of the person who made the video.

Merseyside Police would encourage parents to make sure they know what apps their child is using, how each app works and what their child is using it for. Many legitimate apps are being used by young people in a way that allows them to communicate with or be contacted by absolute strangers. This creates a significant risk to their child.

It is really important that society becomes more aware of the possible risk of exploitation on mobile apps and social media sites, and people know how to report suspicious activity to the police.

Parents, guardians, carers and teachers have a responsibility to know what the warning signs are and to look out for them to prevent a child putting themselves at risk or forming inappropriate relationships online. There is a wealth of advice available online:

Online/Internet Safety - How to keep your child safe

As parents and carers of young people, the online world can confuse and worry us as our children grow up and become more independent online as well as in the real world.

How do you know that what they are doing is safe? What can I do, as a parent or carer, to help, support and guide them to ensure their online safety?

There are a number of excellent tips and advice available in helping your children stay safe online. Below are links to two sites that are especially helpful and informative.

thinkuknow.co.uk

Thinkuknow.co.uk is a website produced by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. CEOP works with child protection partners across the UK and overseas to identify the main threats to children and coordinates activity against these threats to bring offenders to account. Their site covers areas such as:

At Holy Family we teach internet safety through a specific unit in our Year 7 ICT curriculum and it is referred to throughout a number of ICT and PSCHE lessons right the way through the school. We realise the importance of these issues and the worry that this can cause many parents and carers and we will always try to ensure that there are updates on these pages which can support you in this area.